Region 1 SDA Festival: Day 2 - Afternoon

Today got off to a great start at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 1 Festival! There were 2 plays this afternoon, but before they got started I was thrilled to find my Auntie Donna, Auntie Bev, Auntie Joan, and friend to the family Evelyn in the audience. We had a nice visit before the plays began and then another afterwards over ice cream Blizzards at Dairy Queen. I'm also part of a scavenger hunt taking place for the drama students, so I was hunted down by several dozen teens to pose for group photos with them. I hope to track down the pictures so that I can share them with you here. Such fun to hear "Mr. Hayward, we need your picture!" And now a little bit about the 2 plays this afternoon!

DOG FLEET by Rory Panagotopulos - Oxbow Prairie Horizons School - This is one bizarre play and I loved how the cast really bought into the science fiction elements of the story and never held back for a second. High concept, high energy. There were some very strong senior actors in this play and they kept the audience's interest from start to finish. The production was also very visually beautiful. It had a great set, fantastic costumes, and phenomenal make-up. With such a strange storyline, it was cool to see how the audience really stayed with the play and it was obvious from the laughter that they appreciated seeing something so original up there on the stage.

SMARTY PANTS by Bradley Hayward - Gordon F. Kells High School - Many of the students in this play have never acted before so I was extremely impressed with their energy and charactarizations! This play was written to be an educational piece so that young actors can work together as an ensemble. One of the themes of the play is "teamwork" and the kids did such a great job working together. This is especially true for a scene involving a jump rope, written specifically to be a physical challenge on stage, and they pulled it off wonderfully! I was also thrilled to see each actor commit to their character and they all had very distinct personalities. I can see these kids moving forward in drama and really developing into awesome thespians. It was an honor to see them hit the ground (or stage, as it were) running in one of my plays.

I'm excited to see the festival continue this evening with SELFIE, MISS BETH, and THE MOUSTACHE. More on those later!